Frost and ice forms in attics when warm humid air accumulates and condenses on the underside of your roof sheathing.
Ice in attic roof.
This only occurs when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees f warm enough to melt the snow while the roof edge remains below freezing.
The ice begins to back up under the roof shingles where it melts again soaking the roof sheathing and leaking into the attic.
Installation of o hagin attic vents on a batten row.
Ice dams form when heat leaking into attics or roof cavities from the building below or from attic ductwork melts the bottom layer of snow on the roof.
Ice dams and icicles form when the snow melts runs down your roof and refreezes near the edge.
When a warm sunny day arrives after a long cold stretch and it seems like you have a roof leak when there isn t a cloud in the sky it s probably attic icing otherwise known as ice dams or ice damming and the surprising thing is that it s very unlikely that the roof covering itself is the problem.
There it soaks the insulation rendering it much less effective and can leak through the ceiling drywall below and into your living space.
The one thing that did concern me was that i noticed on the north facing roof there was a thin layer of ice on the ceiling which is the underside of the roof.
Household heat escaping to the attic.
There are four main causes of ice damming and the latter three we can actually do something about.
While stopping a water leak or repairing a washing machine hose down in the basement might be fairly straightforward snow on the roof ice dams and attic condensation are forms of water damage typical to cold climate homes and are a little more complicated and a little trickier to fix.
Installation of o hagin attic vents in conjunction with photo voltaic panels.
I did some reading online and but i couldn t find a clear explanation of what i was dealing with other than several articles talking about leaks in the ceilings going up to the attic.
Installation guide for areas with ice dams.
O hagin attic vents plywood thickness guide for florida.
The water trickles down between the layer of snow and the shingles until it reaches the eave of the roof which stays cold because it extends beyond the side of the house.
This scenario is often the result of a warm attic.
An ice dam forms when the roof over the attic gets warm enough to melt the underside of the layer of snow on the roof.
Excessive snow on the roof attic condensation and ice buildup can cause roof damage water damage and personal injury.
Installation guide for snow and ice impacted areas.
Ice dam prevention is best achieved in three ways.
Roofing underlayment that water can penetrate.
The melt water runs down the length of the roof to the eaves where it refreezes forming a dam and icicles.
Ice dams snow on your roof and attic condensation.
